, 1887-01-09
THE SACRED BOOSTERS.

II it is on any map it must be a very old
one. This. however, is a matter OF triiling
Importance II the gcoCraphers have
missed Nansho IL. then It j. SO much the
worse for them.
The wreck nj the Imp rudely ended my
first and last pleasure voyage. The Imp
was a. trim II yacht us ever danced ON the
sparkling hillow- of II summer sea. After
cruising about in the south Pacific for Sc,
eral months Ia all sorts oil craft, | con
siderei il q piece oi extraordinary good
luck, when Cnpt. Dalton invited me to
sail with him ns his guest and fellow trav-
cler.
With The crew and all there were eight
of us. all f.nglishmen, with the exception
OF myself. Dalton was IA man Of wealth
whose chief pastime was Yachting some
Of the Young fellows with him were the
spoiled dnrlings of fortune, and the love
OF adventure had induced them To Try II
SIX months sail ON the Imp.
1t must have been about midnight when
the vessel struck. \ tremendous hole was
mutc in her bottom, aud she began iilling
rpp'hlN We let down Two boats in IA
hurry. and, jumping in. made Tor the
b'i'h. which WIS clearly visible in the
bright moonlight. our little cookie shell
boats spun around in the surf like 81 many
chip. Powerlcss and brcathless. we were
turned over and over In the foam crested
waves.
\ great surge threw me high up on the
beach, and it was several minutes before |
wa able To pick myself up.
Are You all right, old fellow -
The speaker was Dalton. 1 rubbed my
eyes and saw live dark forms moving
ubout.
''Oniy TWO missing. Bradley and
Cribs. said Dalton. lit might have
been worse, you know We're in big
luck"
1 thought 80, too, and asked the captain
II ne had any knowledge OF the locality
1t must o.. NnnghO To- he said
ihoughtfuily III 1t Is not, then I cannot
tell where we are
one Of the men had a box Of matches In
his pocket, and after we Ind built n good
fire and were beginning 10 feel more com
Portable. Dalton told rs nll he knew about
III surroundings. Thu island Of Nangho
10 had been discovered centuries before,
but no civilized government had ever
claimed it, Although of considerable size,
embracing hundreds Of square miles, it
produced nothing Of any commercial
value. aud was n vrritahle land Of sun
and lire. inhabited by savnges Of n very
NV ahih AAATRl0lNi'AAH up FaAAA'N1
there when they could nyoid IL. About
fifty years before a colony of English sail
ors, who had mutinied and killed their
captain, attempted to live there, but after
II desultory warfare Of several years the
natives Ind killed them out.
They may Kill us, 81 remarked Dalton
C%heerfully ''lnt then we would have been
drowned II We hadn't been thrown up
here Besides. We have n chance. Doubt
less the savagr- learned something Of our
language from their old enemies, the mu
lineers. They mny nave become Il more
peaceable race At the worst they will
probably hold us rs prisoners and some
day signal IA passing ship and demand Il
ransom Tor Us ~
How much longer the captain would
have talked in his strain 1t il impossible
To- conjecture, but at this point nne Of the
men suddenly leaped to his feet.
OUCH he exclaimed, as he executed II
war dance on the sand.
What did you remarki' inquired Dial
ton with IA stern look at the offender.
Couch repeated the man. ms he rubbed
hi head
sec here. Barlow said the captain, II
hops You are not crazy. Wen AVE 10 tie
you ii you are What is the matter with
yam
The Rooster" munblcd Barlow
We all locked pityingly at the fellow.
undoubtedly hi, ~hipw reck had turned hts
brain
II wa- listening 10 The captain" ex
planned BARLOW "when II sharp weapon
like u spear WAS thrust into my head, and
when | jumped up and turned around |
nam a hig rooster six feet high hopping
nyer the ledge Of rock yonder. If YOU
don't believe me. where did this blood
rome from
We drew him mp to the fire. His head
WA bloody and there was II deep wound
in it, apparently mndc by II pointed instru
ment But the wild story about the
Rooster
Shaking our heads increduiously we
laid Barlow down and advised him to re
main as quiet rs possible.
Had n savag assailnnt slipped mp and
attacked our companion from the rear ,
We could think OF no other explanation.
Daylight enabled us to obtain n better
idea Of III situation. Our wounded man
was severely hurt, but fortunately he was
not disabled lack of the beach the
ground rose in precipitate and rocky
slopes, thickly wooded in places with trees
and shrubs unlike any that we had ever
seen. The Imp had gon TO pieces in the
night, and the shore was covered with
fragments of wreckage. The first thing
TO do was to recoyer what w could, and
we went to work with n will. In the
course of "A couple Of hours we picked III
and fished from the water quite "a lot OF
miscellaneous stores. When we exam
ined our plumber we found several barrels
of sea biscuits, boxes of canned goods and
other provisions. n cnsk of brandy, "A too
chest, various articles of clothing and
some ammunition. This last we were
very glad To see, MS three of us had our
pistols with us.
In the rocky slope back Of us there wa.
n small cave, well sheltered and quite dry.
Into this nook we rolled our stores to pro
tect them from the weather. BY this
time two of the men who hnd been out
scouting returned with their report.
According to our scouts the island was
"A wonderland There were mountains in.
Vulnerable. fertile valleys, lakes, springs,
and an abundance of vegetation. Game
OF all kinds was TO bc seen, but no saw
ages If the island was inhabited the men
We're confident hat the people lived on
the other Side Of "A range of mountains u
few miles distant from our cave on the
beach
What We heard made us very thought
full. No more scouts were sent out thai
day, and we put in our time building a
hreastwork OF large rocks In front Of the
cave We also filled "A cask with spring
water and rolled it in 10 keep for an omcr.
gency. Our defensive preparations did
not amount 10 much, hut we wanted to
make something Of II fight II an ruemy
came pom IL.
Each man made n resolution 10 sleep
that night with one eye wide open, and "A
sentinel was posted just inside the breast
work. with Instructions to fire of his pis-
fol II anything suspicious occurred Just
what happened to me wns the experience